Where did the money come from?

Night reading and opening the book are beneficial.

Some of the classic juvenile world histories abroad were first written for Western children, and their knowledge background and interests are very different from those of Chinese children. Absalom's "Juvenile World History" is a world history specially designed for Chinese children.

From the perspective of Chinese children, this book not only tells historical stories, but also tells the reasons and frameworks behind the stories, the promotion of human civilization by technological innovation, and the views on history and the world. Here, history is no longer a separate story, but a whole.

History is just a way to open up the world, and in the final analysis, it is through history that you have to fall in love with the world.

Open this book and tell your child about the most wonderful people and events in the world.

The snow was fluttering and the wind was biting.

A majestic hero pushed open the door of the small hotel, walked to the table and sat down in three or two steps, took off the hat, untied the sword beside him and put it on the table, and said: "Little Er, beat ten catties of spirits and cut two catties of cooked beef!" ”

The shopkeeper was busy setting up the food and drinks. The hero took out a piece of broken silver and said coldly: "No need to look for it!" ”

Xiao Er nodded: "Uncle Xie reward!" ”

The hero was pouring himself a drink, when the bad guy came in ......

We often see episodes like this in ** and on TV. But have you ever thought about itEverything has a source, so where did the silver that the hero shot come from?

Where does the hero's money come from? Source: Photo.com.

The hero doesn't know, and the shopkeeper doesn't know either. If you tell them that this piece of silver is from a calledAmericasPlaces to come, they will surely be surprised, because they have never heard of anything in the Americas.

However, it is likely that the hero's silver came from the Americas!

Daxia and Dian Xiaoer live in a new era of globalization, but they don't know anything about it.

This era of globalization was initiated by the Europeans.

The invention of the printing press, the great geographical discoveries, the Renaissance, and the Reformation were four major events that had completely changed Europe. The Western world in the sixteenth century was not necessarily more prosperous and developed than other places, but it certainly had the greatest vision.

While other civilizations are almost always concerned with the small world in front of them, Europeans are running around the world. They drew the most accurate map of the world at the time, and they also sailed their fleets to all corners of the earth. At that time, the Mongols only connected Eurasia, and the time was very short, but the European fleet firmly connected the whole world.

One of the great advantages that Europe has over other civilizations is that it has mastered the Americas.

The discovery of the Americas is very important. If Columbus hadn't discovered the New World, our lives would be vastly different today.

For example, children don't have chocolate to eat, because chocolate is a specialty of the Americas; Sichuan people also don't have mandarin duck hot pot to eat, because chili peppers are also a specialty of the Americas; Pizza Hut doesn't sell pasta anymore because tomatoes are also a specialty of the Americas; KFC also doesn't sell fries anymore, because potatoes are also a specialty of the Americas.

After Columbus discovered the New World, all these things were there. There was a great exchange between the Eastern Hemisphere (Eurasia) and the Western Hemisphere (Americas). Historically, this exchange has been called"The Great Columbian Exchange".

Source: "Juvenile World History".

"The Great Columbian Exchange".That sounds like a great name. What the Americans don't have, we give them; What we don't have, the Americans give us. Isn't that a good thing for both sides?

Unfortunately, the Columbus Exchange was not mutually beneficial at all.

The Eastern Hemisphere gets chocolate, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, and moreBut what did the Americans get?

The first "treasure" they get is bacteria, and the second is a virus.

The environment in the Eastern Hemisphere is complex and there are many kinds of animals, so many bacteria and viruses have evolved. They sometimes kill humans. Do you remember the Black Death? That's a terrible example. But no matter what bacteria and viruses, over time, people will slowly develop immunity and will not be killed so easily. For thousands of years, bacteria and viruses have killed countless people in the Eastern Hemisphere, while also cultivating human immunity.

But the Americans have never been in contact with the outside world, they have no immunity to these bacteria and viruses, and once they are infected, they are almost certain to die. It's like a death bomb that has been slowly accumulating for thousands of years in the Eastern Hemisphere, and it suddenly detonates in the Americas.

The process was horrible, even more terrible than the Black Death. In a short period of time, ninety-five percent of the people of Central America died, and the islands where Columbus first ventured were completely extinct. Most of these people are killed by microorganisms.

The rest of the Americas fared slightly better, but only "slightly", and the dead were still everywhere.

In our opinion, Columbus seems to be a big hero, but in the eyes of Americans, he is a hero, and he is clearly the embodiment of death.

Of course, Columbus didn't mean to do that! At that time, scientists had not yet discovered microorganisms, so Columbus did not know that he had bacteria and viruses in his body. He wondered how many Americans were dying around him.

However, the actual result he caused was just that.

In addition to bacteria and viruses, the Americas also got something new through the Columbian Exchange, and that was white people. In the beginning, it was mainly Spanish. They, like bacteria and viruses, were a scourge of the Americans. These guys not only grabbed the land of the locals, but also abused and bullied people, treating each other like cattle.

If you were American, would you say it was a "Columbian exchange"? No, you'll just say it's a "Columbus sabotage."

The Americans were sad, but the Spaniards were happy because they had made a fortune. Do you remember the ransom of the Inca emperors? That's a room full of **.

The real wealth does not depend on the emperor's **, but on the underground。The Spaniards discovered huge silver mines in the Americas, the largest of which was called the Toposi Silver Mine. This single silver mine could account for half of the world's production. The Spaniards dug up tens of thousands of tons of silver from here. Some say that this silver can be used to build a silver bridge across the Atlantic.

Source: Photo.com.

Behind the Silver Bridge, however, are the lives of thousands of Americans. The Spaniards forced them to mine. Every village in the vicinity of the silver mine had to send villagers to work on a regular basis, for months at a time. The air in the mine is thin, dark, and steep, and you can fall to your death if you are not careful. At that time, silver mining required the use of large amounts of mercury, which was toxic to humans, and many people were poisoned.

In the caves here, you can see human bones everywhere. Locals call this super silver mine "Man-Eating Mountain". This cannibalistic mountain swallowed the Americans alive in their stomachs, and then spat out a large pile of silver.

Where has all this money gone? Taken by the Spaniards, of course. Then they used it to buy things, and it spread all over the world.

If you trace the whereabouts of this silver, you will find that at least half of it has gone to China.

Europeans craved Chinese silk, porcelain, and tea. But they don't have any goods to keep up with the ChineseExchange。We in China don't look down on the stuff they produce. Well, now they have silver, and China needs it badly.

China has a lot of good things, but there is a lack of silver mines, so ancient China has always used copper coins as currency. Copper coins are not convenient to use. A large string of copper coins is needed to hold a small piece of silver.

Think about it, what does it look like for a hero to walk the rivers and lakes with a sack of copper coins on his shoulder? So China is quite in need of **.

We will see on TV that the heroes of the Song Dynasty also pay their bills with silver, which is not right. The people of the Song Dynasty used silver, and they generally had to exchange copper coins first, and rarely used ** directly as currency.

It wasn't until the Ming Dynasty, when overseas ** was imported into China, that we began to treat silver as currency.

Therefore, the ** used by the hero in the tavern to pay the bills is most likely from the Americas, and the second may be from Japan, because the Ming Dynasty also imported ** from Japan.

In the 16th century, there was a raging river of silver on earth. It poured out of the Americas and into Asia, especially China. In turn, goods such as silk, porcelain, and cotton cloth flowed from Asia to Europe. This is how the globalized economy works.

Source: Photo.com.

We often say, "The outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 opened the door to China", as if China had been living behind closed doors before the Opium War.

Not really. In the 16th century, China became entangled with the outside world. What happens tens of thousands of kilometers away has a great impact on China. If a large silver mine is discovered in the Americas, the silver in the hands of the Chinese will increase, and the price will be **. Once the big silver mine is exhausted, the money in the hands of the Chinese will be reduced, and the price will be **.

The era of globalization in China began long ago, almost three hundred years before the Opium Wars! It's just that people at the time often didn't know this. Not only did the hero and the shopkeeper not know, but even the emperor and the minister rarely thought about this issue.

The engine of this era of globalization is silver. Without silver, Europe would not have been able to do business with Asia, and its fleet would have to run over the sea with its belly shut.

Historians may write an ebullient "Ode to **":

Ah, you weave the web of business, ah, you start the era of globalization.

The Americans, who are the big losers of this globalization movement, will only say this "Ode to **"."Phew! ”

Absalom's "Juvenile World History" is a set of world history that is easy to read, easy to understand, and warm. Open it, and you will find that the history of the world is not an isolated event, but a complete story with logic to follow: why did Rome fall? How did Europe emerge? Why did the world war start? At the same time, I will also follow the author to think: why did the world become what it is today? How should we view the world?

Reading world history and maintaining curiosity about the world and concern for human civilization can help children better understand the present and go further. Maybe this book can ignite your love for history and curiosity about the world!

Click the link to buy this book: "Juvenile World History (Yi Zhongtian's praised history author Absalom, a well-read, easy-to-understand, and warm world history for Chinese children)" (Guomai Culture, produced, Absalom) [Abstract Book Review Sample] - JD Books.